


Who You Gonna Call? (A Phasmophobia Phanfiction)

by blooperss



Category: Phasmophobia (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Ghost Hunters, Horror, Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28155858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blooperss/pseuds/blooperss
Summary: Four teenagers get involved in the Ghost Hunting business. They thought they were ready, but no one could be prepared for what this business entailed; not in this house.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Idea

A blast of water burst from the showerhead like a river bunched up behind a dam, pushing against the sturdy wall, until the dam finally opens up and the pressure is released. Lines of water shot out like clear laser-beams aimed perfectly towards my head. It would have been a perfect headshot, had I not ducked out of the way to wait for the water to warm up before I even put a toe into the freezing death current that just barely grazed past my hair. Once I was ready, I stepped in.

As the water ran down my skin, I began to think. Usually, I sing in the shower. But, every now and then, I find myself quietly thinking. Those showers wind up being a lot quicker than the showers where I sing until I find myself turning up the heat every ten seconds as the hot water runs out. I found my thoughts wandering to my elementary school days, back when my little cousin and I used to go "Ghost Hunting" in my backyard. We'd walk around, searching for anything that could mean there was a ghost back there. Somehow, we managed to turn every little thing into "solid evidence" of "paranormal activity". We'd jump at every little sound we heard, even though we were in broad daylight. I remember we searched up methods of how to find ghosts. It lead to us pouring flour on the balcony, hoping we'd see footsteps when we came back. I began to think: What if I had the proper equipment and went on a real ghost hunt?

I grabbed a bottle of shampoo and held it out like an EMF Reader. The paranormal was always a weird topic for me. I believed in ghosts, but I'd never seem any proof that didn't have anything to do with my imagination.

"Where would I even get one of these?" I questioned out loud. It took me no more than three seconds for Carol to pop up in my mind. Carol is an amazing friend of mine that I definitely don't have a crush on whatsoever. She knows a lot about ghost hunting and all that. I decided that she'd be the best person to call, since she's probably got at least a hundred bookmarks for websites that sell equipment. I flicked the bottle open with my thumb and squeezed some shampoo into my other hand. I then closed the cap with my index and middle finger, and put the bottle back on the rack. I put my hands together and rubbed the shampoo as though I were washing my hands. My hair had a few knots, but I managed to separate them by sliding my fingers through, thoroughly scrubbing my hair and rubbing my fingers into the roots.

When I was finally done showering, I texted Carol.

Hey Carol

Hey Ethan

What's up?

Not much, you?

Well, I'm glad you asked.

Oh?

I was just thinking: Wouldn't it be fun to go ghost hunting?

Where's this coming from all of a sudden?

Shower thoughts

Makes sense

I was thinking about the time I went "Ghost Hunting" in my backyard with my cousin and thought it'd be fun to do it for real.

Now we're talking.

So I was wondering if you could send me a link to a site to get some equipment.

Oh sure! Gimme a sec.

https://www.ghoststop.com/Ghost-Hunting-Kits-s/51.htm

Thanks!

No problem!

So, are we bringing Elliot and Silvia with us? Or is this like a date?

A date? Uh... What makes you think that? I mean, not that I'd be apposed to it but ghost hunting sounds like a pretty swanky first date.

Lol I'm teasing you. You text Eliot and I'll text Silvia. Sound good?

Yeah sounds good.

"Dammit Ethan. You shoulda said something..."


	2. The Ghost Shack

I switched over to Eliot, my best friend since diapers. I texted a simple "Hey" to him and clicked the power button. I then made my way to my room where I flung my phone onto my bed, got dressed and hopped into my gaming chair, rolling up to my computer. I typed the site into the search bar and spun around in my chair to grab my phone off my bed. I did some light multitasking as I scrolled the site whilst simultaneously texting Eliot. Our conversation was mostly the same, minus the flirting that I was too stupid to pick up on. He agreed to chip in some money for the equipment, so I placed the order.

A few days later, the equipment arrived. It was hard to resist opening the box, but I wanted to do it with everyone there. It was midday and the sun was at its peak. I was about to text Carol, but she beat me to it with a phone call. Now, I can usually handle phone calls; I'm not a complete nervous wreck, but Carol is a completely different story. Just hearing her voice makes makes me get all reclusive and nervous. My thumb shook as it hovered over the accept button.

 _"_ _Don't mess this up, Ethan."_ I thought to myself as I tapped the button and shakily pulled the phone up to my ear.

"He-" My voice cracked and I cleared my throat. "Hello?"

"Hi, Ethan!" Carol said excitedly. I couldn't tell if she was excited to talk to me, or just excited about the ghost hunting.

"H-how are y-you?"

"I'm doing great, you?"

"I'm f-fine."

"Did the stuff arrive?"

"Y-yeah, it just came in." I began to clear my stutter.

"Perfect! We still down for three o' clock?"

"Yeah-"

"Great! See you there!"

"See ya."

I tapped the "Hang Up" button and let out a sigh of relief. I looked at my shaky hands. My palms were sweaty. My knees felt weak. My arms felt heavy. At least there was no vomit on my sweater already. Mom's spaghetti. I started giggling to myself, before shaking my head and snapping back to reality. Ope, there goes gravity- Okay I'm done now.

I plopped down onto my bed and stared at the ceiling.

 _"Is this really a good idea?"_ I thought. My aunt once told me not to mess with spirits. You never know what you're talking to, and you have no way of knowing what you're getting yourself into. Don't underestimate an iceberg based on what you can see. That's how the Titanic sank. But the four of us haven't been all together in so long. I decided on going through with it.

There's a forest behind my house, and not too far in, there's an old shack. I found it when I was little. I was walking down the trail with my dad, and we found a huge clearing. There it was. It was all decrepit and rusty. I was a little freaked out by it, but my dad decided it'd be fun to turn it into my little hangout place. So he scraped the rust off, gave it a new paint job, and even managed to get the lights working again. I helped decorate the interior. Not long after that, I showed Elliot. We met Carol and Silvia in middle school. Now, it's a hangout for all four of us. This was going to be our "Ghost Hunting Headquarters".

I walked into the shack and started writing on the big whiteboard I put up on the wall, planning everything out before my friends got here.


	3. The Plan

At exactly three o' clock, Carol walked in.

"Someone's excited, huh?" I said with a smile.

"Of course! I live for this shit!" Carol said, smiling back. Her smile seemed to light up the entire room. It was as though there was a spotlight on her, the light reflecting off her flowing brown hair, and beautiful, hazel eyes. Her slightly tanned skin seemed to glow with an indescribable aura that just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I then realized the "spotlight" was actually the lamp hanging above her.

"You there, Ethan?" She inquired, waving her hand over my face. I quickly snapped out of it.

"Huh? Yeah-" I said, trying to play it off.

"You kinda zoned out for a second, there." She said, "It didn't have anything to do with me, did it?"

"What? No- That's not-" Just then, Elliot came in, holding Silvia's hand.

"Yo yo yo! What it is mothafuckas?!" He shouted.

"Oh, Elliot!" I said, grateful that he showed up and broke the tension. I feel like he'd probably be the kind of guy to walk in every time you're about to kiss, but it's not like I'll ever have to worry about that.

"Did I walk in on something?" He asked. I immediately started blushing.

"I don't know, did you?" Carol asked rhetorically, grabbing my arm. I blushed even more.

"C-Carol! Cut it out!" I said, idiotically, not getting the hint. Carol didn't let go, as we spoke. It was like she forgot she was still holding my arm.

We discussed our plan to put out some advertisements on a few websites, as well as some fliers up on some lampposts. We spent most of the afternoon making the ad and spent the rest of the time up until supper talking, printing, and waiting for people to see the ad, which no one did. Before we went home, we put up some fliers, hoping people would notice. No one did.

A few weeks later, I finally got a notification. A small house on Tanglewood Street, just a few block down from mine. No prior history of paranormal events, but the person who lives there has been noticing some strange occurrences, lately. So, he decided to put out a request on our post. I immediately checked it out as soon as I got the notification and eagerly called everyone over to the shack.

We were like a giddy fan-club. Especially Carol. I'd never seen her so excited in my entire life. She was absolutely beaming.

"This is so exciting!" She said, looking like a rocket about to take liftoff. "A real ghost hunt!"

"Okay but have you talked to your parents about this?" Silvia asked. Silvia seemed like the only one in the group that was able to stay down to Earth, while we all had our heads in the clouds. She was right. I was getting ahead of myself, here.

"Well, I thought maybe I'd wait 'till we got any takers before asking." I said, "I don't wanna bother asking to do something that might not even happen."

"Makes sense." Said Carol.

"I'll go ask them after we're done hanging out." I said.

The day seemed to pass by really quickly, since we were just so excited. We mostly watched real ghost hunters on YouTube to get an idea of how to do it. Eventually, we all had to go home to eat supper.


	4. Dinner

The dinner table was quiet, besides the occasional clanks of utensils. This wasn't a bad thing, though. It just meant we were enjoying the food. I swallowed a piece of chicken and cleared my throat to speak.

"So, uh, I was thinking of going ghost hunting with the group." I said.

"Ghost hunting?" My mom inquired.

"Yeah." I said, "You know, with the equipment I ordered." I replied.

"Oh, _that's_ what that stuff was for." My dad said, putting two and two together.

"Well, I don't know if that's such a good Idea." Said my mom, "Your aunt told you not to mess with spirits."

"Well, I'm not _messing_ with them." I countered, "I'm just seeing if they're there. Besides, we're gonna bring smudge sticks and crucifixes so nothing attaches to us."

"Well, where would you be doing this?" She asked.

"We got a request from someone on Tanglewood Street to check out their house."

"So you're just gonna walk into a stranger's house?" She asked, rhetorically, "What if that person's a pedophile?"

"Mom, they're not gonna be home. They don't even know how old we are, anyway. Not to mention there's four of us."

"Okay but, how do you plan on getting there?" My dad asked.

"Well, I was wondering if we could use your old truck." I said. My parents looked at each other, then back at me.

"I'm assuming you want to go tonight?" My mom asked.

"If that's alright with you." I said.

"Fine. But on one condition: You must have your phone ringer on." She demanded. "I need to be able to contact you at all times."

"Okay." I said.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

With that, I prayed that everyone else's parents would say yes. Last thing I want is to go there on my own. Maybe if Carol was with me. Come on, Ethan; Snap out of it.

Eventually, I got a text from Carol saying it was alright, so I asked my dad if he could give me the keys to his truck. He tossed them to me and said, "Don't crash it." With a wink.

My dad used to be a truckdriver for a delivery service. It was more of a gig he had while he searched for something more substantial. Now he does tech support, but the company let him keep the truck. He used white spray-paint to cover up the logo, and now it just kind of sits there. Every now and then, he takes it out for a spin so it doesn't stop working. I think he was saving it for me. The reason I wanted to use his truck and not a car, was because we needed a place to put all of our equipment, and that big box on the back was perfect for just that. So, I packed up my laptop and all of the equipment, closed up the back, and got into the driver's seat. The startup felt nice. You could clearly tell the truck wasn't new, but the engine wasn't wheezy. It had a nice rumble to it, and after positioning my seat, I felt this great sense of control over the truck. Behind me, was a window into the back area. It wasn't originally in there, but my dad got it installed so he could keep an eye on the stuff back there. The window wasn't huge, but I could probably crawl through it if I needed to.

I got a text from Elliot and Silvia. They were allowed to tag along. I told everyone that I was coming to pick them up and gently pressed on the gas. It drove surprisingly smoothly for a truck. I rode it out of the driveway and took a right. My first stop was Carol's house.


	5. Tanglewood Street House

I texted Carol once I pulled up in her driveway and she came out shortly after. She looked into the window and down to the passenger's seat. Her eyes lit up and she opened the door and sat beside me.

"What was _that_ all about?" I asked her.

"I got excited cause the seat was empty!"

"Why?" I asked like a dumbass.

"Never mind. Let's go get the others!"

I put the truck in reverse and backed out of the driveway. I then shifted the gear back and drove off toward Elliot's house. When we pulled into the driveway, Carol sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing." She said, "It's just that Elliot and Silvia seem so happy together. I wish I had something like that.

"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't have any difficulty with that." I told her.

She leaned against the window and looked outside.

"You'd be surprised." She said quietly. I almost couldn't hear her.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing..."

"I'm sure there's someone you've got eyes for, right?"

"Well, there _is_ one guy." She said, turning over to me and looking into my eyes, twirling her hair around her finger.

"Well there you go! You should tell him how you feel! How could anyone possibly reject a pretty girl like you?"

"I've been trying." She said, blushing. "But he hasn't been picking up on any of my hints..."

"Maybe you should just tell him."

"I want him to figure it out himself."

Just then, Elliot knocked on the door on Carol's side. Carol rolled down the window.

"Quit your smoochin' and let's motor." Elliot said, running towards the back. Carol rolled the window back up and I heard the back of the truck opening up. Elliot poked his head through the back window.

"Is there a reason you two are in the front together?" He asked rhetorically. "You know there's a window back here, right? So, keep your eyes on the road, Ethan." He winked.

Elliot sure gets a kick out of teasing me. He knows damn well that I have a thing for Carol. I backed out of the driveway and made my way over to Silvia's house.

Picking Silvia up was pretty much the same as with Elliot, minus the teasing.

"So, where are headed, again?" Silvia asked.

"Tanglewood Street." I replied.

"Do we have everything?" She added.

"Yep. Don't worry about it."

"Just making sure you don't get ahead of yourself."

Silvia really is the most rational of the group. She keeps a level head and has our backs when we forget to think ahead. You could say she's the brains of the group. She doesn't talk much, but when she does, it's always smart and important.

A few minutes later, we arrived. The house was pretty small. One story with a flat roof. It was mostly one rectangular box with a garage attached to the side. The sidewalk came to a "T" formation, cutting through the front lawn all the way to the door. The walkway was lined with solar-powered garden lamps, which emitted a calming, yellow light. However, on our way there, it started to rain, which kind of took away from the effect. I pulled up in front of the house and parked the truck. I looked into the back.

"Everything alright, back there?" I asked.

"Yep." Said Elliot.

"Definitely." Silvia said, "I was just reading over what the owner wanted us to do. I wrote it all down on this whiteboard." She showed us the whiteboard she was writing on.

"I could use a refresher." Carol said.

"So, first and foremost." Silvia started, "We need to discover what type of ghost we're dealing with. That's what we're being payed for. But, he said he'll pay us extra if we do a few bonus requests for him."

"Sounds kinda sus, not gonna lie." Said Elliot.

"Not that kind of bonus request, you perv." Silvia said, giving Elliot a gentle push, "He said he wants us to get the ghost to walk through salt, cleanse the area with smudge sticks, and capture a photo of dirty water in the sink."

"I don't understand the purpose of that last one." I said.

"He probably just wants photo evidence to prove that he's not crazy." She said.

"Fair enough."

"I've done a little more research." Silvia started, "Looks like the ghost's name is Karen Miller. This ghost also seems to only respond to people who are alone. We should be able to use it's name to anger it and get some paranormal activity."

"How about we try not to anger the ghost." I said.

"Of course." She said, "Just letting you know, in case we ever need to."

The way we'll find out what type of ghost we're dealing with is simple. There are six signs that can tell you what type of ghost it is: All five lights turning on on the EMF Reader, the ghost talking to you through the spirit box, random fingerprints, the ghost writing in the book, little floating orbs seen with the camera, and freezing temperatures. Each ghost type has it own combination of three of these. (If this were a book, the first pages would be the pages of the in-game journal.)

"Shall we go in?" Asked Carol.

"Let's get our equipment." I said.

We each picked up a flashlight and a thermometer. I picked up a spirit box, Carol picked up an EMF Reader, Silvia handed us our journals to write down evidence and picked up an extra one for the ghost to potentially write in, and Elliot picked up a black light.

"Hey guys, look!" Elliot called, "Now I can look for cum stains!"

"Fingerprints, Elliot." Carol said, "Fingerprints."

"Same difference." Elliot said, walking off toward the house.

"We'd better follow him before he gets himself killed." Silvia said.

"Elliot!" I shouted. "You forgot your head camera!"

"Oh shit." He said, quickly coming back. We all put one on and headed toward the house.

"Oh wait, crap." I said, "I forgot the key."

"I got it." Said Silvia, dangling the key in the air.

"Phew, you're a lifesaver."

Silvia put the key in the lock and turned it right. She swung the door open, leaving the key in the lock. We walked into the house.

"Karen Miller! What's up?!" Elliot said, cutting passed us and walking in like he owns the place.

"Elliot, shut up!" I said, slapping his shoulder.

The entrance of the house was a hallway. There was an opening in the wall on the left, and at the end was the living room.

"Let's split up." I said, "Cover more ground."

"Ethan, have you not watched a single horror movie in your life?" Elliot questioned my judgement, "Splitting up is how people die!"

"Fine, then we'll go in pairs. You know, a buddy system." I suggested, "You can go with-"

"I already know what you're gonna say, dude." Elliot said, cutting me off. "I'll give you some alone time with Carol." He gave me a friendly push and motioned for Silvia to follow him down the hallway.

I stood there for a few seconds, my mouth slightly agape.

"Well, Ethan?" Carol said.

"Oh- uh- yeah-" I replied.

Past the opening, was a side hallway, lined with three rooms and a closet between the second and third door. We started from left to right. The first room was a bedroom. The bedsheets were and walls were both blue; The kind of blue that's just called "Blue" on a Crayola marker. It looked like a teenager's room. On the other side of the bed, there was a computer desk. It had two monitors on it, making it look like a streamer setup. There was just one thing about it that struck me as odd.

"Who the hell puts their computer _on_ the desk?" I said, "I know it's called a desktop, but you'd save so much space if you put it underneath!"

"Focus, Ethan." Carol said.

"Right. Sorry."

There was nothing odd about the room other than that monstrosity of a setup. We checked the next room, which was a bathroom. Nothing there either. The last room was a nursery.

"Nuh uh! No way am I going in there!" I said.

"Why not? You scared?" Carol asked.

"N-No!" I shouted. "I just hate dolls and stuff! Also, a ghost is ten times freakier, if it's a kid! Ghost children are the fucking worst."

"Don't be a baby."

"Don't even get me started with babies!"

Just then, my walkie talkie turned on, and I heard Elliot's voice on the other end.

**_"Christ, it's cold down here. Fuck the thermometer; I can see my breath."_ **

"Are you in the basement?" I asked.

_**"Yeah. That's why I said 'down here'. We've got like, negative eleven degrees Celsius."** _

"Alright, stay there. Carol and I will go back to the van and get more equipment."

I wrote down "Freezing Temperatures" in my journal and Carol did the same. Carol and I made our way to the door. Nearly the exact moment we walked out into the hallway, we heard a door slam somewhere in the house. I nearly jumped out of my skin and quickly fumbled for my walkie talkie.

"You guys alright down there?"

_**"Yeah, we're fine. The door just slammed on us."** _

"You think it was a draft?"

_**"No, there's no draft. The door closed like someone grabbed it and shut it."** _

"Check the door for fingerprints."

_**"On it."** _

Carol and I left the house and made our way to the van. We put down our thermometers and I grabbed a video camera. I placed it on a tripod, and turned it on. My laptop was wirelessly connected to the security cameras and our video cameras. I picked up the tripod, and walked back out of the truck.

_**"We've got fingerprints on the door."** _

"Nice." I said, pulling out my journal to write it down. I then heard Silvia over the walkie talkie.

_**"That means it's either a Wraith or a Banshee. So it's not gonna be Ghost Orbs. The only two possible signs are EMF Five and Spirit Box, so we need you two to come down here."** _

"On our way." Carol said into the walkie talkie. We quickly made our way down to the basement to meet up with the others.

"Long time, no see." I said, coming down the stairs.

"Indeed." Said Elliot. "You guys got the equipment?"

"Of course we do." Said Carol, eagerly passing me to check for EMF readings.

The basement was freezing, as Elliot said. It was one of those basements that had visible wooden beams and exposed insolation. It looked more like a decrepit toolshed, rather than a room in the house. There was a refrigerator and a metal sink beside it. The water dripped from the sink like an impatient businessman tapping his desk. It was unsettling, to say the least.

"Getting anything?" Asked Silvia.

"Nope." Said Carol, "Nothing."

I pulled out the spirit box and turned it on.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" I asked. The box said _NOTHING DETECTED_

"Nothing here, either." I said, befuddled. Then I remembered something. "Wait a minute, didn't you say it only responds to people who are alone?"

"Oh, that's right!" Carol said, her eyes lighting up.

"So that means the spirit box won't detect anything..." I gulped, "Unless I'm alone."

"HA! You're fucked!" Elliot laughed.

"Thanks for the support." I said sarcastically.

"You'll be fine, Ethan. We'll go get the salt and the photo camera." Carol said, rubbing my arm.

"Alright, fine." I said dejectedly.

With that, they began walking up the stairs, leaving me in the darkness. To make matters worse, they closed the door. Right before the door closed, Carol said, "At least it's not a kid."

"You don't know that!" I yelled up the stairs. I looked around nervously and pulled up the spirit box.

"How old are you?" I asked the box.

 _ **"ADULT"**_ The ghost replied through the box.

"Oh thank go-" My head jolted to look at the box so fast, it's a miracle it didn't go flying off. I fumbled for my walkie talkie once again and pulled it up to my mouth.

"SPIRIT BOX!" I shouted, bolting up the stairs. Just as my foot made contact with the first step, the sink turned on and I ran even faster. I ran as fast as I could to the front door and sprinted back to the truck.

"That's fucking terrifying!" I said, panting. "The sink turned on, so I think you'll find your dirty water." I wrote down "Spirit Box" in my journal.

"So, we have a Wraith." Carol said.

"Alright let's put down the salt, take a picture of the sink, and get the hell outta here." I said, still panting. We went back into the house and did just that. After we took a picture of the sink and turned the tap off, we noticed there was already a footprint in the salt.

"Alright guys, let's motor." I said, walking back up the stairs. The rest of the group followed me as we picked up our equipment and made our way back to the truck. Once we loaded everything back in, Carol and I got in the front and Elliot and Silvia closed the door on the back of the truck. With that, we were out of there.


	6. Booming Business

"We found out that you're ghost is a Wraith. We strongly suggest you call a ghost removal crew before you get hurt. Keep in mind that Wraiths have a toxic reaction to salt. If you are being haunted, sit in a circle of salt until you're sure that you're safe. Thank you for choosing to call us.

PS: You should put your computer on the floor to make more room on your desk."

That was the email we sent to the owner. It wasn't very lengthy, but it seemed professional, so we were pretty proud.

The next day, I woke up at around nine o'clock, which is pretty early for me. I had some Fruit Loops for breakfast and headed over to the shack in my pyjamas. I flipped open the laptop and was shocked to see that we had three new requests! I immediately texted Carol to give her the news. She was beyond ecstatic. We called up the rest of the group and met up in the shack as soon as we possibly could. Our options were a two-story house on Edgefield Streed, another two-story house on Ridgeview Road, and a farmhouse belonging to the Grafton family. We decided to go with the Edgefield Street house since it was the first one to come through. We told the others that we'd get to them as soon as possible. We all decided to go to the house at about nine PM. Elliot and Silvia left, but Carol stayed.

"This really is awesome, isn't it, Ethan?" Carol said.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool!" I said, "You wanna watch some more ghost hunting videos on YouTube?"

"Sure! I'm sure there's some more stuff we could learn from them."

We watched a few, before Carol had to go. She wanted to get some rest before we went out in the middle of the night. I walked back to my house and I saw my mom waiting for me at the dinner table.

"I'm assuming you're going out again?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

"Where are you going this time?"

"A house on Edgefield Street. Tomorrow we're going to Ridgeview Road." I told her. She sighed.

"Ethan, I want you to have fun, and I want you to be happy. But, I'm a little worried about you. I know you're gonna tell me not to worry, but as your mother, I can't help it."

"I know, mom. But I'll be fine, I promise."

"I hope so..."

I hugged her tightly before going upstairs to my room.


End file.
